Chinese stocks have lost $6 trillion in 3 years. Here’s what you need to know
Chinese shares haven’t just had a bad start to 2024. It’s been rough going since February 2021, when they hit their most recent peak.

Over the past three years, about $6 trillion — equivalent to roughly twice Britain’s annual economic output — has been wiped off the value of Chinese and Hong Kong stocks.

The Hang Seng index has crashed 10% so far this year alone, while the Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Component indexes are down 7% and 10% respectively.

The astonishing losses, reminiscent of the last Chinese stock kraken market crash of 2015-2016, highlight a crisis of confidence among investors concerned about the country’s future.

"The past three years were no doubt a challenging and frustrating period for investors and market participants in Chinese equities," Goldman Sachs analysts wrote in a research note Tuesday. "China … [is] currently trading at suppressed valuations and decade-low allocations across [investment] fund mandates."

The world’s second largest economy is plagued by a myriad of problems. They include a record downturn in real estate, deflation, debt, a falling birthrate and shrinking work force, as well as a shift towards ideology-driven policies that has rattled the private sector and scared away foreign firms.

The stock meltdown has made Chinese markets the world’s worst performers so far this year. All this is playing out against the backdrop of a global stock market rally, led by Wall Street’s record-setting run, and by Japan in Asia.

There are signs the Chinese government is beginning to worry. Reuters reported this week that Beijing asked banks to sell dollars to prop up the yuan, and Bloomberg said Tuesday that the government was preparing to intervene directly to support stocks.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Monday ordered officials to take "forceful and effective measures" to stabilize the markets. But can investors’ confidence be restored?